The UTMB Newsroom

The University of Texas Medical Branch

Search

Polio survivor 'pedals' disabilities agenda

March 28, 2007

Galveston County Daily News, March 28, 2007 GALVESTON - Mikail Davenport choked up as he pedaled down Eighth Street, each push bringing him closer to the front doors of the hospital where his most painful memories live. For the past three weeks, Davenport, 58 of Austin, has pedaled across the state using a hand cycle. He survived the West Texas desert, bouts of severe pain brought on by his post-polio symptoms and bronchitis, but he had yet to face the pain he's suppressed for more than half a century. University of Texas Medical Branch's John Sealy Hospital holds memories of the polio Davenport contracted at age 2 and of the dozen or more reconstructive surgeries he underwent before he was a teenager. As Davenport rolled to a stop at the hospital's front doors Tuesday, onlookers cheered and shook his hand.